Sweets for my Sweet...

So, today I hosted McGonnagle's 7th birthday party after swearing last year never again. Rather than the elaborate Witches Ball we laid on then, we opted for allowing her to invite a few friends over to make a load of yummy treats to eat and take home with them - a make-your-own-party-bag kind of affair.

We made candy apples, chocolate-dipped apples with sprinkles, rice krispie cakes and decorated a load of the chocolate cutout cookies from Papa Tofu. I think I spent the same amount on sprinkles, edible glitter and jelly diamonds this month as I would have on a pair of shoes!
The girls had great fun nibbling at the toppings as they worked and, as the weather held out beautifully for us, they took regular play-breaks in the garden, running round, riding their bikes and scooters and playing football. I'd bought one of those execrable Pop Party CDs second-hand off Amazon, so there was an age-appropriate soundtrack rather than the all the reggae, electro and vaj-folk that gets played round here normally.
For food I set out a simple buffet that me and Skint Vegan Dad saw most of the benefit from - sosmix rolls, veggie ham and vegan cheese-spread wraps, a wide variety of vegetable crudites with hummus, olives, strawberries and black grapes with some sweets, biscuits and tortilla chips for good measure. But the girls weren't that fussed - the girls were here for sprinkles!
It was a busy but fun afternoon finished by the Birthday Girl getting her cake -

- a fake Polly Pocket cake as per special request. And being a sucker for a challenge, how could I say no?

I baked two layers of chocolate sponge cake from 'Easy Vegan Cooking' and two layers of vanilla cake (one baked in a bundt form) from 'How It All Vegan!' with pink food colouring added - a bit too much as you can see! I sandwiched it with the vegan fluffy buttercream from VCTOW and a homemade blackberry and apple sauce. I covered the whole thing with chocolate ganache, again from VCTOW - which I also used for the chocolate apples and krispie cakes, btw! - before draping over a fine sheet of bubblegum-pink rolled fondant and going to town with the buttercream and adornments to ensure Polly has the most vulgar, overdone princess dress of them all! This cake tasted really great - once I'd picked all the jelly tots off it, bleugh!!! - as I think I've finally learnt my lesson of ensuring you pair sweet buttercream with a slightly tarter fruit filling. The sponge was delicious!
So now I only have to knock up a second birthday cake for McGonnagle for her actual birthday on Tuesday - I'm thinking lazy-ass ice-cream cake?!
I'm off to retrieve my three year old from under the buffet table where he's currently sat with a selection of appetisers and hummus - the way he eats hummus, you'd think it was all he'd been weaned on!
Over and out...